According to a piece by C. W. Nevius on SFGate.com, Dave Barry has left the newspaper business. A little more than a year ago, Barry announced that he was taking a sabbatical from his column, and has now decided to make the break permanent. The reason, he stresses, was not that he had a lack of faith in the industry, but that he was ready to move on. Still, he has grave doubts about the future of newspapers.

And the story talks about Barry’s blog and his interest in podcasting. Is this a very funny rat, leaving a sinking ship? I never read Barry’s column in a newspaper but hit his blog frequently. Somehow this seems…significant. [Thanks, David]